Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 238 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Stock Up 1.6 %

HD opened at $396.69 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $394.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $401.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $398.72.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.66%.

About Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States and internationally. It sells various building materials, home improvement products, lawn and garden products, and décor products, as well as facilities maintenance, repair, and operations products. The company also offers installation services for flooring, water heaters, bath, garage doors, cabinets, cabinet makeovers, countertops, sheds, furnaces and central air systems, and windows.